The invention relates to cartons, and more particularly, to a carton for multiple articles such as beverage cans in which the carton has a dispenser for controlled removal of individual articles.
Cartons for encasing multiple articles are useful for enabling consumers to obtain and transport a desired quantity of individual articles such as soft drinks or other beverages. A consumer frequently desires to remove one article at a time from the multiple-pack carton. Thus, a carton with a dispenser that facilitates the removal of a single article from the carton at a time is desirable.
When the articles contained in the carton are cylindrical, and are disposed in the carton upon their sides (i.e., with the longitudinal axis of the cylinder being generally horizontal), it is important that the articles be constrained such that the remaining articles do not roll out of the dispenser when one article is removed. Another important feature is that the dispenser provides easy access to the articles. Additionally, when removing individual articles from such a carton, the user should be able to easily determine how many articles remain in the carton. Thus, a carton with a dispenser that constrains remaining articles so that they do not undesirably roll from or otherwise exit the carton when one article is removed is also desirable.
Cartons and dispensers which are aimed at satisfying at least some of these objectives are disclosed in the present inventor's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/680,364 published on May 13, 2004 under Publication No. US 2004-0089671, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,736; U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. US 2002/0070139; US 2002/0088820; and US 2002/0088821, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Nevertheless, the cartons and associated dispensers disclosed in each of those patent applications each lack one feature. Namely, the ability to automatically and conveniently position the cans or articles in the carton proximate the dispenser for easy access by a user. While the initial cans are easily removed from the carton once the dispenser is opened, after those cans are removed, the remaining cans have a tendency to position themselves and remain in the lowermost tier and/or near the back end of the carton and away from the dispenser.
The prior art includes various cartons and/or mechanisms to elevate the end of the carton opposite from the dispenser to promote the gravity feed of the cans remaining in the carton toward the dispenser. Examples are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,178,242; 5,289,943; and 5,878,947, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference entirely.
Nevertheless, such mechanisms are ineffective, difficult and inconvenient for a user to implement, too expensive to manufacture and/or impractical to utilize with current carton and dispenser designs.